South African Bagwandeen is December Open champion

Second-placed Joshua Gopaul (right) vs eventual winner Uddhav Bagwandeen in the fourth round encounter which resulted in a draw.

When the dust settled in the highly competitive December Open chess tournament, it was South African, Uddhav Bagwandeen who emerged victorious.

The Guyana Chess Federation-organized seven-round tournament concluded recently with Bagwandeen, completing an unblemished run.

The medical student won five of his matches while holding out for draws against Joshua Gopaul and Rai Sharma who ended second and third respectively.